The Proteomics Core (PC) will be located within the Keck Laboratory at Yale University. It will provide a very broad range of mass spectrometry; protein chemistry, sequencing, and profiling; and peptide synthesis expertise and analytical capabilities to support basic science, preclinical and clinical research programs in each of the themes. Investigators will access PC services according to a subsidized fee-for-service agreement whereby the requested PC salary support will partially offset Keck service charges. Additionally, salary support will enable PC staff to go beyond the very defined services that are the hallmark of the Keck Lab. Hence, PC staff will be able to provide extensive consultation, more detailed data analysis and will be able to modify existing biotechnologies to meet the specialized needs of NBC members--who will be given the same turn-around priority as Yale investigators. In periods of emergency the PC would devote all of its considerable resources to meeting the challenge. NBC members will access analytical services by email or FAX submission of request for service forms and via overnight shipment of samples. With 44 staff, including 11 with Ph.D. and 6 with M.S. level degrees, and 74 major instruments purchased at a cost of $6.6 million dollars, the Keck Laboratory is one of the most advanced academic biotechnology laboratories in the world. By July, 2003 it will occupy 20,000 square feet. In 2001 the Keck Lab provided 146,612 services to 375 Yale and 767 non-Yale investigators at 189 institutions in 20 countries. As judged by extensive use of the Keck Laboratory by non-Yale investigators and by Study Panel reviews of its 17 NIH/NSF equipment grants, which often refer to this unit in words like, "The Keck Foundation Biotechnology Resource Laboratory at Yale is the premier biotechnology resource center in the world and is a model for such facilities on a scale that most universities cannot even contemplate", the Keck Lab will provide a unique environment in which to locate the PC. Hence, the PC will draw on the state-of-the-art instrumentation and the most experienced and senior staff within the proteomic resources of the Keck Laboratory.